DUBLIN – AC Immune SA could receive up to $509 million in up-front and milestone payments in a licensing deal with the Janssen Pharmaceuticals arm of Johnson & Johnson involving its first-in-class tau-targeting vaccine ACI-35, which is in clinical development for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

DUBLIN – Fountain Healthcare Partners raised €85 million (US$100 million) in a first closing of its second fund and has set its sights on a final target of €125 million.

Genkyotex SA raised CHF20 million (US$20 million) in a series D round to take forward its pipeline of selective NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitors in a broad range of indications.

DUBLIN – Cytos Biotechnology AG was thrown a lifeline in the form of a new licensing deal for its Qbeta (Qb) virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine platform.

The first biopharma initial public offering (IPO) to take place on a European exchange in 2014 was also the biggest. Oxford, UK-based Circassia Pharmaceuticals plc raised £202 million (US$313.2 million) on March 13, which set a benchmark that was not beaten on either side of the Atlantic.

Cristal Therapeutics BV raised €6 million (US$7.5 million) in a series A round, enough to take the company through a first clinical trial involving its Cripec nanotechnology platform.

DUBLIN – Eighteen months after terminating its interest in Adocia SA's Biochaperone technology, Eli Lilly and Co. is paying $50 million up front to get it back, and it could hand over another $520 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones linked to the progress of Adocia's ultra-fast-acting insulin formulation, Biochaperone Lispro.

DUBLIN – Top-line data indicate the optimal dose of Poxel SA's first-in-class diabetes drug imeglimin hit the primary endpoint of a phase IIb dose-finding study in 382 patients with type 2 diabetes, with an average reduction in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of 0.63 percent.

DUBLIN – Europe’s science community is expressing increasing levels of disquiet over an ambitious proposal from the newly installed president of the EC Jean-Claude Juncker to kick-start investment in Europe through a new public-private investment fund, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).